Welcome back dear readers, and I hope you had a fabulous long weekend! I sure did, and although I didn’t do anything especially exciting, I enjoyed every lazy, sunny minute of it.

This is another case where I’m blogging about a dinner quite some time after it happened. Why? Absolutely no reason short of being too lazy to write it up. I went to Alloy with friends and found it quite good, but just shy of fabulous.  Sadly the lighting in the restaurant was pleasantly dim – great for ambience but crappy for photos, so I apologize in advance for the lack of quality here.

Alloy opened up to all sorts of fanfare sometime last year, and got great reviews right out of the gate. After giving them a chance to settle in, two friends and I visited them sometime in the winter.

The décor was quite stylish without being overly cold or pretentious, and they are geniuses with the lighting. Brighter toward the hostess area, dimmer in the restaurant, the golden ambience of indirect light is still memorable.

The service was excellent throughout, which is not surprising since we knew our waitress. Nevertheless she was very knowledgeable and assuredly steered us through the menu.

Here we come to the downer part of the night – the cocktails. Apparently on the night we were there, the regular bartender was not. Whoever was filling in did not have the same expertise with the cocktails, a fact that we found out after we gently questioned the quality of our libations. I’m not sure if Alloy now has redundancies in place to replace the bartender if he can’t make it, but that night our cocktails ranged from bearable to awful. And since we heard amazing things about the drinks we were understandably disappointed. And that lost the restaurant money since we stopped at one. The Moscow Mule cocktail was made with ginger yes, but assuredly too much of it, to the point where the bitter notes in ginger were in the forefront, and the Pinku cocktail tasted like cough syrup. It was truly awful.

Rather than a typical bread basket, was hummus with naan and olives was brought to the table, and the hummus itself was strangely bland. It sorely needed a hint of lemon juice, a breath of garlic or even some sea salt on top. Perfectly smooth, with good olive oil on top, it was creamy and bland. The olives however, were fantastic.  Firm, slightly spicy, perfectly fresh they were everything mushy bland overly salty olives are not. The naan was very good also, soft and flavorful.

For our entrees we went with the beef short rib for myself, and I really need to wean myself off this dish, since if it’s on the menu I’ll inevitably order it. The short rib was excellent to the point of ridiculous. Out of our three entrees it was declared the table favorite. Melt-in-your-mouth tender, savoury, rich and wonderful it was a perfect winter evening dish. I also realized why people like polenta for the first time in my life, so kudos for that.

Another friend had the double cut pork chop. Since I only had one bite, I can declare it very good but not as good as my short rib.

My other friend went with a fish special, which was a gorgeous plating of halibut. While dramatic, the whole dish was a bit bland, with none of the flavors standing out or really offsetting the fish. That was the table consensus, not just me, so it was likely really on the unstimulating side.

I personally declined dessert, but my dining partners ordered two, a trio of panna cotta, and a trio of sorbet. Both were delightful, with the edge going to the trio of sorbet. I frequently underestimate sorbet, thinking it will be a lovely palate cleanser but nothing to write home about, but this trio of sorbet was spectacular. Slowly melting over a pile of diced fruit the dish was a perfect mix of refreshing, sweet and unexpected, making it a lovely ending to a great meal.

 

4.2/5
Alloy
220  42 Ave SE
(403) 287-9255

We are wrapped up in some typical spring weather in Calgary, and by typical I mean gale force winds and alternating rain and snow. So while we wait for some sunshine to peek out from behind the clouds I wanted to share my impressions of the organic grocery delivery service that we’ve been using for a couple of years now – SPUD! The name is an acronym for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery and they arrived here from Vancouver in 2005 with current locations in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and LA.

Running a well designed website they provide an array of organic choices aiming for mainly local producers – from fruit and veggies to bread, milk, meat and prepared foods, to cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. While they were very fruit and veggie heavy at first, I’ve seen their lineup expand over time to include more and more convenient products. While I generally much prefer to go to a farmers market to stock up on food, there are many a time, especially in winter where such a trip is simply not happening. Left to choose sad looking veggies at the local grocery store (even if they look good I’d rather support local farmers with more sustainable practices), or schlepping across town on slick roads SPUD! Gives me a great alternative to both.

While their prices are fair to farmers, and there’s the convenience of delivery, they are often not cheap. It is not uncommon to see a single bell pepper or a zucchini hover around 2.50, especially out of season. A half pound of salad greens is typically over four dollars and organic, cage-free eggs are around six. Even when I understand deeply that the real cost of food is often not reflected at the grocery stores, sometimes SPUD!’s prices can be hard to swallow. I suppose the cashier till is where most abstract intentions to eat locally and support sustainable food break down in the face of limited budgets. I also reflect on the fact that I’m cooking for two, and our food budget is easily our largest expense outside of the mortgage. Having said that, I think we’ve developed a system that allows us to maximize our food choices for the way that we eat, and it clearly works for us.  For around a hundred dollars a week we get six litres of milk, a couple of great Hoven farm steaks, a loaf of bread, a couple heads of garlic, zucchini and mushrooms for the week, six to twelve apples, a few lemons, two to five tomatoes, sometimes cukes or green onions, whatever seasonal fruit may be on sale, occasional toothpaste or tea, or crackers or burritos or eggs, as well as hazelnuts and mac’n’cheese.  Some combination of those comprises our weekly baskets.

The best way to eat in a manner that does not cause damage to my ethical sensibilities and wallet is to deal with local farmers directly. When you purchase bulk meat from local suppliers, freeze/can seasonal produce, you mainly need milk and bread as well as some fresh stuff throughout the week. Dealing with a delivery service at the very least eliminates the many middlemen that reduce farmers’ earnings to nothing.

I love the fact that they provide pretty detailed info on some of their suppliers and you can find out who grows your food and where. I love the fact that you can buy bulk items in caselots, which is great when it’s say, peach season and they’re affordable and you want to freeze a few bags. I love the fact that they have great info on most of their products, telling you what’s in it, how to store it and how to use it. Their weekly delivery sheet has the bill on one side and a neat newsletter on the other, where they profile green websites, provide a seasonal recipe and share tidbits of news. You can find out exactly why there is a shortage of onions and potatoes – apparently it’s because farmers underplanted due to vast overproduction in previous years, or how the earthquake affected blueberry farmers in Chile. I love the fact that they interact with the community, they are on Twitter with updates and are supporting the Calgary Horticultural Society Fundraiser.  I love their reward points that you can redeem for discounts, and the fact that THEY DELIVER! Their customer service is also pretty good with prompt refunds on bad produce (only happened twice I think), and relatively quick replies to questions.

Here are some features that they don’t have, and I wish they did. Product reviews. This is elementary, and many is the time I took a chance on something and found it too… granola for me. This is especially common with some soy-based, organic, vegan-whatever foods. They are so healthy that the taste is like cardboard. The product reviews would quickly weed out the stuff that consumers actually like and the stuff that is only for the hardcore health warrior. I guess I’m a gourmand first. I also wish they carried small lot seasonal stuff. Like now all the food boards are aflutter over morels, ramps, fiddleheads, etc. Have I seen any in Calgary? Nope. This is not only applicable to SPUD! but also to all the restaurants claiming seasonality on their menus. Yeah? Where? I also wish they carried more local products that I know are good but aren’t partnered up with SPUD! for whatever reason – Lundt carrots, or Hotchkiss tomatoes for instance. I’m sure there are many reasons why certain farmers would not be a part of SPUD, but since *I* don’t know them I can only sigh. Surely there are local greenhouse farmers that grow tomatoes, they can’t all be from Mexico or wherever.

So like every business they have their good side and some room to improve. But they deliver ethically sourced products and the vast convenience of delivery. And I support them for trying for a vision where farmers get paid a living wage so that stories like the plight of these tomato pickers happens less often. Since the government blatantly disregards our votes, voting with our dollars is often the most impactful way we get heard.

WWW.SPUD.CA

I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m not a morning person. Sunday was no different, and we arrived at the bistro at the *ahem*early hour of 2 pm, which worked out to a great advantage since we were the only ones there, and they serve brunch till three p.m.

Although it’s not much to look at from the outside, (are they going to finish that?)

The interior is simple and lovely with warm neutral colors and lots of wood. Since we arrived so late we were able to snag a prime seat by the window and watch the world drive by.

After ordering the mandatory, necessary and obligatory elixir of life coffee, which was nice and strong and came with cute wee spoons, we browsed the short and sweet menu. Neither of us have much of a sweet tooth, so waffles and french toast were out, and in the end we chose the filling but comforting eggs benedict for John and truffled omelet for myself.

I gotta tell you right now, the omelet was a revelation. Tender, soft and chock full of goodies it was everything that an omelet tries to be, and in my kitchen fails. I’ve never made an omelet that was much more than scrambled eggs, but this one was divine. Full of mushrooms, green onions, truffles, well seasoned, it was a symphony of flavors on par with the best omelet I’ve ever had. The pork belly, grilled tomato, toast and hash browns were simply gilding the lily. I’m craving that omelet just thinking about it.

John’s eggs benedict were very good, but not as good as my omelet. The eggs were softly poached, but the sauce seemed weaker and blander compared to what great eggs benny achieve. The brioche was a fantastic foil and the pork belly provided a much needed salty note, it was a solid dish, but not achieving full greatness.

The only two minor complaints we had was that the hash browns could’ve used a hint more salt too. Not to sound like a salt fiend, but they were very well cooked, crispy in the corners and soft on the inside, flecked with herbs and looked great, but potatoes take a good deal of salt to bring out their flavor, and these ones just lacked a bit. Salt shakers were not provided at the table, and the ketchup offered was housemade and waaaay too sweet. Breakfast places should not mess with Heinz, it’s a gold standard for a reason, and I’ve only tasted a couple of house ketchups that rivaled it.

Minor quibbles aside, we had a great, filling, satisfying breakfast. The service was great, the coffee was flowing, and all was right with the world.

4.5/5

AKA Winebar
709 Edmonton Trail NE
403-984-7534
Tuesday to Thursday & Sunday 4-11 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
Weekend brunch Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

And it was slightly inconsistent. The steak was tender and perfectly done, with great beef flavor, but it lacked an ingredient I consider crucial to well prepared meat: salt. There was none, not a hint of salt on the steak, nor in the herb butter. This is so odd, that I’m chalking it up to a mistake on the kitchen’s part, perhaps, rather than a deliberate omission. The potatoes however, were divine. Perfectly roasted, seasoned, creamy on the inside, they were an awesome dish.

My girlfriend ordered the winner of the bunch, the Alberta Bison Meatloaf wrapped in smoked bacon with mashed potatoes and mushroom pan jus. It was an awesome meatloaf, flavorful and moist, with the bacon a perfect foil. The mashed potatoes were about as good as they come, and it was a hearty comforting meal.

The restaurant ran out of smoked and barbecue glazed pork ribs with mini mac and cheese and coleslaw, so they subbed bison ribs in the dish, which was a mixed success. The bison ribs were simply too lean, and remained way too chewy despite the long smoking time. The reason pork ribs work so well is due to the high fat content which is slowly cooked out of the meat leaving it moist and succulent. The bison didn’t have that luxury. The flavor was outstanding though, with a decent pink smoke ring and a tasty glaze, and the portion was huge owing to the size of bison ribs. The mac and cheese was also awesome, with the crispy top that to me is the best part. The coleslaw was fresh and quite decent.

For dessert we managed to practice uncommon restraint, and only got one dish to share – the panna cotta. Soft and creamy it was not overly sweet, and the berry sauce added a great fresh touch. The oatmeal cookies were quite dense and crumbly, more like granola cookies, if you like that sort of thing.

The restaurant was slowly wrapping up for the night as we finished our coffees, so grabbing the camera we explored the house while we could.

Of the original structure the living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a verandah remain, with the other few rooms being added on by subsequent owners. Wandering the house I was struck anew by how much more space we now think we require. Our modern oversized houses could easily fit two smallish ones of a century ago, and yet those small ones housed more people. Everything’s expanded in the process, the bedrooms are larger, the closets huge in comparison with the cupboards of years past, the common rooms the size of modern dens. The only exceptions I typically see are the kitchens, which were often large in comparison, with the amount of effort and materials it took to cook making it a necessity. Which makes sense given that much of the food was grown, produced, canned and saved right at home.

Here’s a photo tour of the house:

The living room

Wall shelf

Little table

Kitchen

The original stove!

Old buffet in the kitchen

Buffet detail

Scarred but solid door

Doorknob

Ever since I heard of The Mackay Place I wanted to go there. I was sold on the entire idea of a renovated farm house re-purposed as a restaurant, plus the house ketchup and steak they served at the Millarville Market were absolutely delicious. All summer long I drove around with their brochure in the car, and when a girlfriend suggested a Saturday night supper I and another friend jumped at the chance.

The farm house was built by a Scottish homesteader J.A. Turner 123 years ago, which for this neck of the woods is a very long time ago indeed.  He raised a family and imported Clydesdale horses from Scotland, got a valley named after him, and shortly after oil was found on the land, he sold the property. In 1916 the Mackay family bought the homestead and held it until 1988. Since then the property has underwent a couple of incarnations, becoming a tea house, a pub, a bed and breakfast, and most recently a restaurant, dubbed simply The Mackay Place.

Old buildings and places have a certain fascination for me that is at times hard to explain. There is a palpable mystery to inhabiting the same space as the people that came before us. Perhaps it is because so much of history is lost to us, the people that built those things and walked those same floors are unknowable in a way that their modern descendants will never be. Our lives are documented with tapes, movies, books and blogs in unprecedented ways. We record too much and those before us not nearly enough. So we imagine what life must have been like back then, how it would feel to actually use those museum-looking pieces of furniture, wear different clothing, feel a different rhythm to life. Or perhaps we react to the energy of the place, getting shivers in an abandoned asylum or dungeon, and walking straighter in a cathedral or theater.  Suffice it to say, that visiting a restored homestead was incredibly appealing to me.

The property is nestled behind tall trees just off highway 549, and contains the main house, a small cabin and some neat decorative touches with a country motif.

A wheelbarrow of flowers:

A rooster in a rim:

And a cabin, which if I’m not mistaken dates back to the original settler’s time:

The restaurant itself is a well maintained farmhouse, where it looks like as little as possible was done, which kept many details alive. The original layout of the rooms was preserved, with the original kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and what was apparently Jenny’s bedroom – one of the four Mackay children’s room, where we dined.

The menu is very much in keeping with the ranching theme befitting the area, ranging from a lamb burger to bison meatloaf, with a couple of choices of fish, wild salmon and halibut. All the meats are local and the farm or place of origin is specified, which is great since very few restaurants in the Calgary area make the effort. We each ordered an appetizer and an entrée so we got to sample a decent selection of the menu.  

I started with a loaded spinach salad that’s served with house smoked pork-belly bacon, herbed goat’s cheese, marinated portabella’s and crunchy fried onions, which is the only way to eat spinach in my opinion. It was fabulous. The bacon was absolutely outstanding, with a depth of flavor that store bacon will never have, golden crunchy, savory onions and (travesty) almost too much goat cheese. But it was a salty flavorful work of art and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My friend ordered the house-smoked steelhead trout antipasto with pickled asparagus and caper aioli, which for some reason I only got a crappy picture of, likely because I was drooling over my salad… It was an absolutely generous portion of tender trout, tangy greens and a dollop of sour cream.

My other friend got the soup of the day, which happened to be a mushroom soup. It was a lovely creamy soup, although not the best version I’ve had. The mushroom flavor was mild, and the mushrooms themselves were pureed a bit too fine for me, I personally prefer a more assertive soup with some mushroom bits. This was pureed more than Campbells, which should tell you something about its texture.

With our appetizers we had a very decent Caesar and house wine, but since I know nothing about wine, all I can tell you is that it was a bit thin bodied but with a fine flavor. I know, I suck.

 Stay tuned for entrees and a tour of the house tomorrow…

Recently I met up with a few friends at La Vita e Bella for supper, and although we had a grand time, it wasn’t because the food was amazing. That’s okay – they’ll fit right in to Calgary’s average food scene.  Their location is not too bad – right beside the Stampede casino, in a rather nice wooden historical building, with a quietly private patio. The parking is a bit of an adventure – IF you’re driving on the opposite side of the road, and catch the attendant on the block BEFORE the restaurant, you might get a spot without having to circle one way streets.

Since my ability to follow directions virtually guaranteed block circling,  I arrived fashionably late and we proceeded to order drinks.  Given the warm evening, my friends ordered beer and mineral water, while I got a martini.  There was problems with the keg that night, and my friends beer came out totally flat, and she was promptly offered a substitute. Overall the service was nice, if uninspired, but nothing to complain about.  Once our drinks arrived we were given a basket of pretty great bread and a dish of olive oil and balsamic to dip it in.

mmmm.... bread

For appetizers we all shared meatballs stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, served in tomato sauce and topped with basil ricotta, and the bruschetta with roma tomato, garlic and fresh basil on a toasted prosciutto and ricotta crostini. Sounds good, don’t it? But it wasn’t, really. The bruschetta didn’t work on several levels – first it was so soggy by the time it arrived, that the crostini was falling apart. Secondly, the prosciutto was one large piece, and people have you ever tried to bite through a piece of that stuff? It’s hard, right? So as you tried to take a dainty bite the prosciutto simply pulled all the topping along with it, and the soggy bread collapsed, and you had a mess on your hands. Finally, see that big piece of while in the middle of the bruschetta? That’s garlic. An entire half clove of raw garlic.

big ass garlic clove

Now, I love garlic with a devotion typically reserved for newborns, but to have a mouthful of that much raw garlic kills not only your breath, but all the other flavors in your mouth. All you taste is garlic, and the nuances of tomatoes, prosciutto, cheese, never mind herbs are lost forever. The drizzle of brown stuff around the plate tasted strongly of maple syrup which didn’t really go with the flavors of ham, cheese and basil, but maybe that’s just me. It didn’t detract from the dish, but didn’t do anything for it either.

How were the meatballs? Pretty good. The sauce they were in was very fresh and sweet tasting, a simple but delicious plain tomato sauce that offset the meatballs rather well. They were big, juicy and browned, a little mild flavored and the buffalo mozza made for an interesting filling. The ricotta was about as bland as ricotta normally is, basil or no, so to me it was a strictly decorative item.

For the main course, two of us could not resist the sound of the risotto cooked with prawns, brandy, oregano, grana padano cheese in a rose sauce, while me and my equally gluttonous friend shared the lasagna layered with a bison, prosciutto and bacon bolognese, ricotta cheese, fresh basil and roma tomatoes, and the aaa alberta striploin thinly sliced served with arugula, cherry tomatoes and lemon vinaigrette.

I couldn’t resist asking for a bite of the risotto, and it had a very mild flavor, something I’d need to add way more salt, cheese and oregano to, so as to bring out the flavors of rice and prawns. My dining companion mentioned that she’d rather have the prawns in larger chunks, rather than tiny pieces, so that she could tell when she was biting into a prawn.

The aaa striploin was a huge disappointment. It was not thinly sliced, but shaved paper thin, and fully cooked. Picture a plate of well done, unseasoned sandwich meat, and you have this dish. Except sandwich meat has more flavor. This had NO salt, NO seasoning, small chunks of fat hanging off some of the meat, and it was as bland and disappointing as could be. After we requested some lemon wedges from the server, and doused the beef with it and salted heavily, it was edible. Was it worth 25 bux? Not even remotely. The menu description led us to believe a thin steak would be cooked however we wanted and thinly sliced over some greens, but this was a mixed plate of flavorless boiled tasting beef. I don’t get it.

Can YOU tell it's sirloin?

The lasagna however, was wonderful. Just awesome. All the flavors were comforting, warm and mixed so well together, that you couldn’t identify the individual spices – the hallmark of a good dish. The filling was awesome, the sauce was the same goodness as the meatball sauce, and the melted cheese around the plate added layer of awesome. Overall it was our favorite dish, and the one thing truly worth eating again.

Oh so good

We wrapped up with a panna cotta and a coffee, and it must have been late, cause I don’t remember any details about the dessert, but I do remember it was a solid dish. Nothing bad about it, and the coffee was awesome – rich and strong. They also get points for great patio music, I clearly remember Air being played as the evening wound down.  So here’s the deal – if you go – park kitty corner from the restaurant, on the block before. Skip the bruschetta for the appetizer, but definitely get a slice of that awesome lasagna. I assume other desserts are good too, so that and a good coffee will ensure you get a very solid meal.

3.7/5

La Vita e Bella

401 – 12th Avenue SE

403-264-6046

Bangkoknoi Thai Restaurant was the first venue I went to, and since this is my fifth visit, I clearly love it. In fact, I love it so much I can hardly ever wean myself off eating the same three things off their menu: Tom Yum soup, Papaya Salad and a curry of some sort. I’m such a creature of habit, that I deviated from that menu by exactly two dishes, and even that was due to my wonderful lunch companion. So we ordered Tom Kah Gai and a noodle dish just to be different.

The Tom Yum is the epitome of Thai cooking for me – fragrant, bold, and spicy. I adore the combination of hot, sour and salty and this reddish broth with chunks of mushrooms, tomatoes, meat and lemongrass is awesome. I do wish they added more basil though – I had one tiny leaf in the soup, and basil gives an incomparable fragrance. Tom Kah Gai was also delicious, but spicier, with the richness of coconut milk to tame the acidity of Tom Yum. Which I still prefer.

The Papaya salad is not their most consistent dish. On some days it’s transcendental, with finely shredded papaya leaves, lime juice dressing, peanuts and shrimp mixed with just the right amount of dressing. Others it’s a bit too watery probably left too long premixed, with the papaya releasing it’s juices. But even when it’s not great, it’s still quite enjoyable, so I get it every time.

Having had their great, fragrant red curry on most of my visits, this time I dared to be different yet again and got a Mussamun Curry. Thick with tender chucks of beef and cubes of potatoes it was hearty and good, but if I were making it at home I’d mix some red curry sauce into it and make it sublime. But that’s just me. I’ve never had Mussamun Curry before, and I can only assume that this is not the pinnacle of it’s performance.

The noodle dish – Lard Nah – was very very good. Surprisingly so, since I expected it to be mediocre for some reason. It was all owing to the sauce – dark, sweet-salty and delicious it gently coated the noodles and the veggies with thick strips of meat. While warm it was just great, and as it cooled it lost some flavor, so if you order it, eat it while it’s hot.

I have never, ever had room for dessert after a Bangkoknoi feast, which is not saying much since I’m not the world biggest dessert fan. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good occasionally, and my sweet tooth is getting bigger the older I get, but it’s not the most important thing in the world for me. For one, it’s often too expensive. I don’t care what ingredients you use, if it’s adding ten dollars to the bill – I’ll probably skip it. For another, I can be gluttonous during dinner if the food is good, and don’t have room. And if by some miracle I do have room, well either the food was bad so why take a chance on dessert, or I’ll enjoy the virtuous feeling, thank you.

4/5

Bangkoknoi Thai Restaurant

1324 Centre Street NE
Calgary, AB T2E 2R7, Canada
(403) 277-8424

My second lunch of the weekend was a takeout feast out of the deli section of Mercato. I’ve always wanted to eat at Mercato, I’ve heard good things about it, but it is quite expensive, so I haven’t taken the plunge yet. Anyone have a corporate account lying around unused? I’m your woman.

Anyhoo, first we browsed the chic but highly expensive boutique just to whet the appetite and I was again blown away by the prices. A 500 ml jar of pasta sauce was $11.00, a package of pasta was $6.95 and a large fried pastry was $4.99. A tiny jar of tapenade type spread and a jar of canned tomatoes was $14.95, and I don’t care if they’re harvested by virgins in Italy by the moonlight and canned during sunrise by silent monks – I’m not paying that much for one jar of canned tomatoes. The few things we found that are worth buying are some of the reasonably priced cheeses, a large pre-marinated chicken for $22.00 and definitely some of the deli items.

Deli items were plentiful and great looking, with a touch of exotic. From a good variety of glistening olives, sausages of all shapes and sizes, marinated grilled veggies, breaded bass fillets, deep fried risotto balls, meat balls, vegetable salads, roasted potato salads and bean salads. We chose a bocconcini salad, potato and sausage salad, roasted marinated veggies, veggie pizza, a traditional baguette, one risotto ball and the lady at the counter highly recommeded pasta salad and bean salad. We got just a few spoonful of each seeing as there were only two of us, we’re not total gluttons you know.

Hugging our loot home we spread it all out, made a pot of strong coffee and had a feast in the sunshine on the deck. The pizza was quite good – flavorful, zesty, full of veggies and a lovely sauce, with only a thin sprinkle of cheese. The baguette however, was only so – so.  Stuffed with what looked like mortadella with a tiny bit of a spicy sausage it was rather bland.

The bocconcini salad was a big disappointment – the balls of cheese are bland as to be expected, so need a strong flavor to balance them out – a good shot of vinegar and salt. It had neither. Imagine a salad with bland cheese balls and whole cherry tomatoes coated in oil and you have the makings of a bland oily dish with nothing to bring out the taste of either ingredient. A judicious splash of vinegar, salt and fresh basil would have helped immensely.

I’m not sure what the lady at the counter was on, but I can tell you the next two disappointing dishes were the pasta and bean salads that she specifically highly recommended. The pasta salad had the same problem –huge pasta shells, tossed with some diced veggies, all coated in oil. Bland, no salt – the dish could have been made anywhere. I believe Sunterra serves a similar version as well as many supermarket delis. The bean salad was…. a bean salad. When I eat out,  I expect each dish to be a great version of itself, good at least. But these two were the most prosaic, basic, generic variants I have ever had. If *I* can make something better at home, then you have no business selling it, in my opinion.

The two good sides were the potato and sausage salad and marinated roasted veggies. Now, I’m not saying they were anything special. Whatever you picture when you hear those names is probably exactly what we ate. Thanks to the sausage the potato salad had flavor, and thanks to the grill and salt so did the veggies. They were not transcendental by any stretch but they were wholly satisfying.

And now to the deep fried risotto ball. My friend thought it was barely so-so. If I recall, it tasted like someone took risotto, stuffed if with some pizza sauce and mozza, breaded and deep fried it. Was it bad? Not really. A fresh herb or two would have helped the pizza pop taste. Was it worth $6.95? Not in either of our books. It is not a dish either one of us was inspired to either make ourselves or order again, so although not too bad it was nothing to write home about either.

I already stated that my reviews are limited by budget and subjective as can be, so if I had to rate Mercato strictly on the deli offerings I’d give it a 3/5. However, it’s not really fair to the restaurant proper which surely deserves its chance to shine, so I will withhold judgment for now, and steer you away from the mediocre salads stated above.

Mercato Foods

2224 4 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2S 1W9, Canada
(403) 263-5535

Jonas’ Restaurant eluded me for months. Years really. I’ve always meant to go there, and yet each and every time I tried the mission was a failure. When I went there on a spur of the moment it was closed. Then several lunch reservations failed due to work or weather. Then two dinner plans fell through. Jonas’ and I continued in this vein for quite some time, and just recently I e-mailed a friend and lamented that the stars just won’t line up for us. Until last week. Then I found myself with my food partner in crime Jen tucked into a corner table for two hungrily studying the menu.

The small and cozy restaurant has plain white walls with Hungarian themed decorations, and red and white checkered tablecloths. The lighting is quite dim as the place has almost no windows, but there are charming pots of silk flowers and tealights on each table. We started with wine – a lovely red Hungarian cab for myself and a white sauvignon for Jen, and since I know next to nothing about wine, my description will end here. Being rather hungry and wanting to sample a variety of dishes we asked the waitress for her favorites, and she suggested the Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Paprikash with Home-Made Dumplings and Beef Stew with Pasta, Feta Cheese and Dill. While we waited a bread basket arrived with slices of light rye, a few fresh sliced jalapenos, and a couple of containers of butter. The food arrived steaming attractively just as we were emptying the basket. We’re not know for our restraint.

Chicken Paprikash was the mildest tasting dish on the menu. The meat was fall apart tender, with perfectly cooked tiny chewy dumplings. The sauce was a gentle pink blend of tomato and cream with smoky undertones. It was a lovely and comforting dish, perfect on a cold day or if you feel like the world has been too abrasive lately.

Beef Stew with Pasta and Feta was our mutual favorite. The feta was not gritty in texture or overwhelming in flavor as in some dishes but almost as if it was whipped with cream cheese. The salt and tang were muted and lovely over the bland foil of pasta. I adore dill and the herb added a bright familiar note to the sauce. The stew was dark and thick, tomato based with thick cubes of beef that were barely holding together.

The Wiener Schnitzel is where Jen and I disagreed. I thought it was a superb dish – very crisp breading, proper amount of salt, a large portion and chewy but not at all tough meat made it a winner in my book. Not at all oily, with fresh lemon juice squeezed over it, it was a tasty delight. The potatoes served with it were great too – very soft chunks tossed with dill, butter and salt they were a perfect contrast to the crispy schnitzel. What looked like frozen veggies served with it didn’t add any value, nor take any away. Jen was underwhelmed and said that had she found out it was from Safeway she would not have been surprised.

At this point we were stuffed, but had a great deal of catching up to do. Over wine and the lovely stupor that descends after a homey, filling repast we filled each other in on our busy lives and new interests. Comparing notes, books, sites and music we whiled away a pleasant hour and improbably arrived at room for dessert. Ninety percent of desserts consist of crepes with various fillings, and we chose one stuffed with ground nuts and chocolate sauce. It was an excellent concept with decent execution. The crepe is a bit too chewy suggesting that it’s frozen before serving, and the filling inside while warm and nutty has a funny aftertaste. Neither of us could identify the nuts. The chocolate sauce could be a bit creamier, it had a slight grit to it but it did provide the necessary sweetness to the dish.

Full and happy we waddled out of the restaurant contemplating escalators, taxis or any mode of transportation not requiring the use of legs. But use them we did, bravely walking off some of the food while we made our way to the core to say goodbye. Like a mother’s hug Jonas’ warm atmosphere and home cooked meal made everything better in the world.

4/5

Jonas Restaurant & Bar

937 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2P 0V7
(403) 262-3302